Dragons Herd
by NatsuChad
Summary: Instead of meeting Makorov Natsu joins the guild Dragon Herd. There he embarks on new and old adventures with new and old friends. Read as Natsu creates a different future for himself, but still fights for his friends and finds love. Stronger/Smarter/Serious Natsu and NatsuxOC pairing. Cover Image does not belong to me.


**Chapter 1: Independent Dragon**

 **Note: Natsu starts off as an independent mage. Also after Igneels disappearance Makorov won't be the one to find Natsu. Instead it will be later on the Guild Master of the guild _"Dragon Herd"_ , this guild will consist of my OCs who will be dragon slayers and their mates. I don't know when Fairy Tail will become a regular part of this story, but it won't be that long, and also before that there will be occasional encounters between Fairy Tail mages and Dragon Herd. Natsu will start off on a S-Class mage level and will slowly become more and more powerful (eventually stronger than Gildarts). The pairing will be Natsu with one of his guildmates, a fem!OC. There will be under no circumstances a Harem. Because this is my first time uploading anything on this site all tips and criticisms will be appreciated. Also my grammar and Fairy Tail knowledge isn't really the best, but I hope to better it over the course of this story. The timeline as well won't be as in the anime (including age and probably arcs).**

 **Warning: The first part was only supposed to be a mugging but I kinda got carried away and now it's close to rape. (Extreme stuff like this won't be a common occurrence).**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, only the mentioned OCs and self made plots are mine.**

 **x783**

Loud, menacing laughter could be heard from three men standing around a young girl. The girl laid on the ground sobbing, clothes tattered and cuts littering her body. The three men standing around her were all wearing the same black cloak with a hood covering their faces, on the back of the cloaks was the mark of their guild shining in a crimson red; a upside down triangle with a line down the middle and a circle around the bottom corner( **A/N: Look up "Shadowmarks Danger" as a reference** ). That mark stood for one of the most well known dark guilds in all of Fiore. They kill people for their own amusement and take whatever they can.

"What is wrong little girl, the fun is not over yet!" said the man, to the girls left, in a mocking manner. Only for the girl to curl up even more into herself.

"Awwww, look at her she is shy!" said the man on the right with a wicked grin barely visible under his hood. Both men fiddling with their respective daggers in excitement.

"Shut up you two and hold her down!" the third man said while getting to work on his belt.

At the noise of the belt opening the girl tried to stand up on her cut up legs, only to collapse immediately after her first step. "Ohhh, you don't get to run away!" said the first man while roughly grabbing her left arm and pinning her back down. The second man quickly followed suit his partners action and pinned down her right arm. The third man ripped the girls legs apart as soon as she was completely held down by his partners in crime. The young females mouth escaped a yelp of pain as the man now between her legs started to painfully grope her body. More tears started to form in her eyes as it became clear to her that her struggles against the men were to no avail.

The girl stiffened under the mens grip as she felt a hardness rubbing against her inner thigh. One of the guys holding her down immediately pulled out a knife to hold it to her throat and stop her from doing anything dumb. Her previous sobbing quickly turning into desperate screams of horror.

"Yes, SCREAM, the louder the more fun it is, don't you think so too?" asked the leader. "You know I never had a 18 year old, I wonder how tight she feels?" continued the monster of a man as his smile became more sinister by the second. Tears were by now streaming down the girls face as the men holding her down had to put their whole weight onto her to keep her from freeing herself.

"You slut! Drop the act and give into your desire." the leader started mocking. But the girl didn't respond and only started to struggle harder under the mens grip. In return the girl felt harsh stinging on her cheek and slight dizziness by the slap she received from the man out of anger. "There is a lot more I can do to you other than taking your innocence, so you better start begging!'' The man groaned as he readied himself to finally thrust in. "Pl-Please stop! I can give you money just please sto-" but before she could finish a flaming fist to the mans face cut her off.

The man flew across the clearing as immense heat started to roll over the other three. " **Let her go!"** growled the newcomer, still facing the knocked out leader, on the other side of the clearing. Both men that held down the girl stood quickly up, drawing their respective daggers in the process.

When the girl realized that the men let her go, she immediately started to scurry away from them until her back hit a tree. As she hit the tree she curled up into a ball, as if to protect herself from the traumatic situation. She hugged her knees as if her life depended on how close she could bring them.

"Who do you think you are to interrupt our pleasure time!" cackled one of the goons.

The newcomer was at the mans throat in a heartbeat, squeezing the life out if him. " **My name is Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel, prince of all Fire Dragons!"** hissed the newcomer in an animalistic tone. Shortly afterwards headbutting the man into unconsciousness. A handprint burned into the unconscious mans throat, caused by the unnatural body heat from the beast of a man.

As his partner dropped to the ground the last man standing quickly charged with his dagger ready at Natsu, thinking he could surprise him. But to his astonishment his target turned in the last second around. Natsu smashed the mans dagger out of his grasp and breaking his wrist in the process. Before the man could react he crashed onto his back by the hands of Natsu.

" **You and your guild disgust me to the core! Prison is not enough for your kind!"** growled Natsu. Ending the fight with a quick hit to the mans head. Standing up Natsu quickly made sure the others were still unconscious before making his way over to the shaking girl.

Her clothes were practically nonexistent and her wounds didn't seem to stop bleeding. Natsu felt instantly guilty for not being there earlier. She looked to be around his age, making Natsu feel nothing but rage and hatred at the men who did this to her.

As soon as he reached the girl, Natsu took off his heavy cloak and draped it over the fragile girls shoulders. At first the girl stiffened at the touch of something new but quickly relaxed a little under the warmth of the cloak and the cover it gave her.

"Hello my name is Natsu, what is yours?" Natsu asked the girl with as much kindness as he could muster up, only for the girl to try and press herself harder against the tree, as if to merge with it. "Hey it's ok, that scum can't hurt you anymore I promise." Natsu tried to calm the girl.

At this the girl looked finally up. Her eyes red and puffy from the crying and pure terror reflected in them. When she saw the three men, who tried to do unspeakable things to her, knocked unconscious, her breathing finally started to stabilise itself and her heartbeat calmed a bit.

The girl swiftly diverted her gaze onto Natsu afterwards, to see if he was a threat. Not taking any chances after today, the girl made a fast hand gesture and chanted: " **Crystal Dragons Dagger!** ", quickly trying to stab Natsu with sharp crystal. Too surprised, Natsu hadn't had enough time to avoid the attack. Shutting his eyes Natsu prepared himself for the pain, but as all he felt was mere a weak punch to his ribcage Natsu was puzzled to say the least. However when he reopened his eyes, another wave of hatred washed over him and his confusion was cleared. He saw a bright blue shining rune just above the girls right ankle while her body twitched in pain. "Stop, the more magic you channel the more it will hurt!" Natsu ordered to the girl, when he saw she wasn't complying Natsu quickly continued to explain: "I saw this rune before. It was in a book about forbidden arts. In the past it was used by slave traders to suppress the magic abilities of their merchandise. And it's powerful too, supposedly it stops the affected mage from being able to manifest their magic and lets them feel pain equivalent to the magic output."

Brushing aside Natsu's comment the female dragon slayer stood once again on her quaking legs, her eyes unfocused as her concussion became worse by every second she fought to stay awake. As a last ditch effort the crystal dragon slayer ignored her aching body and her exhausted mind to channel all her magic for one last attack. " **Crystal Dragon's RO-"** was all she could chant before Natsu quickly knocked her out and picked her carefully up to prevent any further harm to the traumatized girl.

After which Natsu carried the unconscious girl, in bridal style, back to the tree at which she cowered in fear only a few moments ago. To comfort her during the incoming night Natsu gently tightened his warm cloak around the exhausted girl's shoulders once again. After making sure she sits comfortable Natsu turned around to dispose of the still knocked out dark mages, all emotions leaving his face in an instant.

 **A week later**

"Kesshō... where are you? Why did you leave?" was all the girl mumbled for the last week, while still being asleep from her traumatic experience.

After the girl fell unconscious Natsu took her to an abandoned hut he found in the middle of the forest. There he took care of her for the past week. Cooling her down when her fever, from the infected wounds, kicked in and making sure she was warm when the nights got cold.

Natsu often just sat by her side, listening to her as she talked about a Kesshō ( **Means Crystal in japanese, I think)**.

Kesshō seems to be her mother of some sort, who must have left her when she was younger. This only strengthened Natsus want to protect the girl, considering his own father left six years ago.

Right now Natsu was out hunting as their food supplies started to run dry. At the moment he was sitting in a tree observing a wild sacred boar, these boars are extremely rare. They got their name because of their size, in the old days these boars were worshipped because of their size. A full grown sacred boar would be able to feed a group of a hundred adults for three days. Hence Natsu took his time in hunting the boar, after all he wouldn't want to scare it away.

It has now been over an hour since Natsu found the sacred boar and started to follow it. Natsu wanted to wait for the sacred boar to start eating, once that happens the sacred boar will be distracted enough for Natsu to make a move.

Natsu rolled his eyes when the sacred boar started to move again instead of taking the decoy carrots Natsu laid out for it. Waiting for the boar to be out of earshot he dropped down from the tree. He immediately started to follow the boars scent. He followed it all the way to a lake where it stopped.

' _Come on, drink something so I can finally return to the hut. I am starving.'_ Natsu thought to himself as he hid behind a tree, watching the boars every move.

As the sacred boar lowered his head to the lake, Natsu bent his knees and readied himself to jump the boar. But before he could do anything a ginormous crocodile jumped out of the water and latched itself onto the sacred boars neck. Natsu reacted instantly and jumped forward, taking hold off the sacred baors hoof as the crocodile dragged both Natsu and the boar underwater.

Natsu was barely able to take one last breath of air before he completely vanished underwater. He held on as tight as he could, as he got dragged deeper into the lake. The lake was deeper than he originally thought. But Natsu didn't let that distract him as he had to think of ways to get rid of the crocodile. As an attempt to get closer to the crocodile Natsu started to climb along the sacred boar by grabbing patches of fur and pulling himself forward. When he reached the back of the boar Natsu got his first good look at the crocodile.

It was about 41 feet long and if Natsu had to guess it weighed about two tons. It had its large jaw locked around the neck of the sacred boar, leaving behind a trail of blood in the water. The crocodiles back was in a dark green color and scars were littered across its body. But that was all Natsu was able to see as they got to some sort of underwater cave, where the crocodile seemed to live. Natsu still sat on top of the sacred boars back as they got dragged out of the water. Because of the caves height Natsu was forced to slide off of the boars back. As he landed without a sound, Natsu had to suppress a scream when he noticed a huge pile of bones laid out in front of him. Some of the bones weren't even recognizable to him, even though he thought he knew every animal there is.

But Natsu had no time to think about the bones once he noticed the sound of struggle behind him. It seemed the sacred boar had survived the trip and was now trying to free itself from the deadly situation. Natsu quickly got to work and snuck around the boar. Before he could even make it to the other side he heard a horrifying crack and after one last scream of despair the sacred boar finally laid still. Natsu had a cold shiver run down his spine. He knew how much of a fight a sacred boar can put up and to think that with one bite it got killed made Natsu just uncomfortable. This crocodile could kill him in one bite, even with his enhanced durability his body wouldn't survive a clean bite.

Natsu took a deep breath to calm his nerves and continued around the boar. Once he was able to see the crocodile Natsu came to a stop. The crocodile seemed to make sure that the sacred boar was dead, as it opened and closed its mouth over and over again. By the time Natsus eyes focused in the dark the head of the boar was just one big mess, brain matter started to leak out and the sound of crushed bones could be heard each time the crocodile bit down on the boars head.

Natsu had to look away so he wouldn't have to throw up. His hands trembled as the situation dawned on him. There was no way out, the beast blocked the only way out of the cave and Natsu wasn't sure how much more oxygen was left in the cave. He already felt dizzy from holding his breath too long on the way down.

One thing was clear to him, he had to act now while the crocodile is still distracted. So taking one last good look at the crocodile Natsu hid behind the sacred boar again and started to think of a plan,

 _"A crocodiles back is armored, so no need to waste any energy on getting through there. I need to come up with a way to escape. Think Natsu- Think... I could bring the cave down on us with one spell. But without cover there is no way to survive. Maybe if I can get under the boar I should be protected enough. The collapsing cave should trap the beast and give me enough time to escape."_

Determination found its way back into Natsus eyes and he immediately started to carry out his plan. He laid down next to the boar and started to press himself under the boar. But quickly it became clear to Natsu that the boar wouldn't budge, as well as the fact even if he was able to get under the boar, the weight would hinder him from holding his breath. So Natsu stood up and took another look around the cave. His despair started to grow as he ran out of ideas, that was until he saw an old, rusty knife laying in one of the piles of bones. He made his way over to the knife with a new idea in mind. _"Come on Natsu, you read about this in one of those books Igneel made you read."_ , he thought to himself to try and calm himself, _"Just one clean cut. The organs should absorb most of the damage."_ Natsu, with knife in hand, made his way to the belly of the boar. Luckily for him the crocodile was on the back side of the boar and according to the sounds was still eating the boars head.

Natsu tightened his grip on the knife and rammed it into the sacred boar. Not wasting any time, Natsu started to drag the knife along the belly in a straight line. Only before he could make it all the way the knife broke off. Fortunately the cut was already long enough for Natsu to climb inside. The smell would have made Natsu throw up a few years ago, but over time he got used to it through hunting.

Soon Natsu was completely inside, he tried not to think too much about the situation. Instead he readied himself to fire of a spell.

" **Fire Dragons Roar!** ", Natsu called out and instantly a beam of fire hit the ceiling of the cave. In mere seconds the fire stream broke through the ceiling. As soon as Natsu saw that, he ended his attack and water came rushing in to the cave. The crocodile noticed too late as rocks came crashing down on it, holding it in place.

Natsu readied himself for the blows, but still the falling boulders hurt him. Struggling Natsu tried to hold the cut closed from inside, only for the water to soon come rushing into the boars belly. Natsu was forced to exited his hideout and started his escape. Once outside, Natsu could see the cave completely collapsed and the crocodile trapped under tons of rocks. Even on top of the boar were multiple boulders. Before Natsu could assess the situation anymore, one last stray rock hit him in the shoulder, even though he was underwater Natsu could hear the nasty pop his shoulder made from the impact. Luckily the sacred boar could hold off the rest of them. But still Natsu had already bruises forming on his body and his shoulder seemed to be out of its socket.

Not wasting his breath Natsu pushed himself off the ground to the surface. Natsu paddled as hard as his still functioning arm and legs could. Sooner than he expected is lungs were burning and he started to see stars. With no more oxygen left in his lungs Natsu broke through the surface and took big gulps of air. But the dragon slayer gave himself no time to rest and quickly made his way to the shore.

Once his feet found footing Natsu started to walk out of the water, holding his left shoulder in pain. He knew what he had to do. Finding a stick Natsu bit down on it as hard as he could. " _1.. 2... 3..._ " Nastu counted in his head. Not giving himself time to think too much, Natsu took a strong hold of his arm and readjusted it. His muffled screams could be heard hundreds of feet away. The stick in Natsu mouth broke under the pressure of his clenched jaw.

The moment the pain became bearable Natsu quickly gave himself a look over. His clothing was ruined and multiple cuts and bruises littered his body.

But before Natsu could inspect anymore he noticed the sun. The sun was already setting and he had at most one hour left of light. Making a fast decision, Natsu started to walk into the direction of the hut he lived in for the last week. His stomach growled, but he had to push forward if he wanted to make it in time. He didn't want to risk an encounter with another monster, he wasn't so sure if he could survive another time. Instead he would have to just go hunt again at sunrise.

One and a half hour later Natsu finally made it to the hut. Without his enhanced senses Natsu was sure he would have been lost in the dark. When he pushed open the door he was glad to see the girl still there, even though she was still unconscious. She looked so peaceful in her state of sleep. Natsu quickly lit a small fire in the fireplace and laid down on the floor. He let his muscles relax and his breathing calm down. His eyes felt extremely heavy and with one last look to the resting girl in the bed next to him, he finally let himself rest as well.

 **The Next Morning**

Natsu groaned while being awoken by the morning sun shining in his face. He covered his face with his hands, only for his left shoulder to give out and his hand to drop back down. That was when the memories of yesterday hit him like a train. Pain spread throughout his body in pulses. He looked around for anything that could help him against his pain. Nothing was there, no medicine, no painkillers. Before he could come up with anything, darkness took back over him.

 **Later that same Day**

This time Natsu already knew the situation he was in. He was able to bring himself in a sitting position, although he was not able to suppress the moans of pain caused by his injuries. Using his right arm, Natsu slowly inched himself closer to the wall. Once his back hit the wall, he immediately unbound his scarf from his neck and made a sling for his arm. With his special healing factor Natsus arm would need one week to completely heal.

Natsu knew that he needed something to eat. He hasn't eaten something good in the last two days. He remembered seeing an apple tree while hunting the sacred boar. So Natsu slowly balanced himself on his legs, leaning heavily against the wall behind him. Natsu walked, in a slow pace, over to the fireplace. Next to it was a basket, Natsu planned to use it to collect apples.

Once out of the hut Natsu looked around searching for a walking stick. Quickly he found one, it was only a few feet away. He limped over to it, grimacing in pain while doing so. Picking the stick up with his right hand, testing its strength by hitting it on the ground. It seemed strong enough for Natsu to lean on.

Forty minutes later Natsu was standing in front of a giant tree. The apples hanging so high, he wouldn't even be able to jump that high. But the hunger took over and Natsu impulsively threw a **Fire Dragon Iron Fist** against the stem of the tree. Pain rippled through his arm, but he quickly forgot about it when saw multiple apples falling down. Not waiting any longer Natsu devoured enough apples to satisfy his hunger. Happy with his work Natsu started to collect the rest of the apples until his basket was full to the rim.

On his way back Natsu found running water. He fished out of his pocket a plastic bag and filled it with water. But because of all the luggage he had now, he had to drop the walking stick. Which meant Natsu needed twice as long for his way back.

Once inside the hut Natsu dropped the apples close to the bed and poured the water into a kettle above the fireplace. After restocking the fireplace Natsu started a fire to cook the water and kill any bacteria. As soon as Natsu was satisfied with the fire he made his way over to the apples and laid them out on a table. He started to chop the apples into small pieces, making sure he could feed them to the girl.

Natsu brought the apple pieces over to the girl and started to feed them to her. When he was done the water was already cool enough for the girl to drink. Natsu held a bowl with water to the girls mouth, letting her drink some of it. After he finished, Natsu cleaned up after himself and started to look over his wounds.

Except for his shoulder there were no major injuries. His muscles were sore and bruised, but tomorrow he should be able to move normal again.

With no more immediate concerns Natsu gave himself the rest of the day time to heal.

* * *

 **Thank you for reading! Please leave reviews. Based on those reviews I will decide if I continue or not. The next update may take some time, because I will wait for one week before deciding. Should I stop; I will post a short note and put this story up for adoption. However should I continue; I will need at least a month to update, so I can put some actual structure into this story.**


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